Eternal
by Still Not King
Summary: AU. Yamato Ishida had never had a normal life, mostly because he could see ghosts. But then his brother took off and became a vampire and Yamato finds himself falling for an infuriating vampire named Mimi. However, that's the least of his problems.
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes: **This is an AU fic with Mimato, Takari, and Taiora.

This was beta read by MimixIshidax, who I'd like to thank.

* * *

_Prologue:_

Yamato,

Hey, sorry I haven't emailed in a while, I was kind of busy. I've just moved.  
But I'm fine. No need to worry.  
I'll see you soon.

-Takeru 

Yamato "Matt" Ishida frowned at his brother's message. The email just wasn't his little brother's style; Takeru was known for his long, descriptive emails (like they were the next great American novel or something) where he went on and on about every minute detail in his life. So these short sentences and vague almost perfunctory answers were rather disconcerting.  
This out of character response worried Matt far more than the silence. It was almost as if it came from a whole other person.

Previously, when he hadn't heard from his brother for nearly two weeks, he had been concerned, so he headed over to his little brother's apartment, only to find it emptied. Concern had become panic, and he was going to call the police when a message from his cell phone informed him of an email from his brother. If Takeru had meant to console his big brother, his message hadn't worked.

Something was most definitely wrong, he thought, biting his lip. Should he still call the police? On one hand, the police would definitely be able to help, but on the other hand besides an out of character email, he really had no evidence that anything remotely awful had happened to his brother. Sure, the apartment vacancy looked bad but Takeru had been talking about moving for over a month…

Besides, if he involved the police, and it turned out Takeru was fine, he'd look paranoid. And he spent too many years fighting against people's image of him as crazy to add paranoid to the list.

"Looks like I'll just have to find him myself." Matt decided, considering it was the most viable option.

Matt frowned once more at the empty apartment before heading down the stairs (the elevator was broken-something Takeru had complained about more than once). Just as he reached the bottom step, a streak of cold suddenly traveled down his spine, and he knew his day was just about to get worse.

About five feet from where he currently stood, there was a woman pacing the floor of the lobby. She had long pale hair, a pretty face and lithe build, and a gaping hole through her chest. Slowly, he reached into his pocket, pulled out his ipod, and put on his headphone. He forced himself into a faux relaxed stance and walked through the lobby, staring straight ahead.

As he was about to reach the door, he saw out of the corner of his eye, the pale woman turn her head to him. His lips formed a thin line and he did his best not to shiver under her gaze; however, she shook her head and turned away from him as he walked out of the building.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

He already had a missing brother on his plate, he didn't have time to deal with a ghost.

* * *

"You have to try harder, Takeru."

"I'm doing my best."

"We understand that you're tying, TK, we do. But you have to try just a little harder. Do it for me."

"Fine, Kari."

Mimi Tachikawa had to forcibly suppress the urge to pull out her gorgeous honey hair by the handfuls as she stared at the couple across from her. The handsome, blond man had his arms crossed over his chest and an extremely frustrated expression on his face; the lovely brunette woman had her hands on his shoulders and every once and a while gave them a squeeze of encouragement (though, she was frowning at the same time).

Resting on the table in front of the trio, lay the cause of their mutual annoyance: a mug of O negative blood warmed to body temperature.

Takeru, the blond man, had become the newest addition to Mimi's vampire clan and thus had very little control of his new abilities, in particular his new fangs. Sure, his fangs came out all right when he was hungry (or when his girlfriend, Hikari was doing something stimulating to him) but he could not yet retract or coax them out on his own. So once the new vampire had his fill of blood, Mimi would make him practice control of his incisors.  
The plan was to get him to extend and retract his fangs with the smell of blood, before progressing to testing him without the smell of fresh blood to aid him. Unfortunately, Takeru was having a harder time with the test then he should and thus the trio had been stuck doing this for a good portion of the night.

They tried for another hour, before Mimi shook her head and picked up the mug.

_Blast. I'd hoped he'd be able to do this by now._

Mimi, as head Vampiress, already had enough on her plate at the moment. There had been rumors of vamps going missing and she was already on edge trying to make sure he wouldn't try to come within twenty feet of her. Add to that a new vampire and his problems…and she just remembered something very important.

"Takeru," she called to the retreating couple, "you emailed your brother right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it should be fine. Once he knows I'm ok, he won't try to find me."

She hoped that was true.

She already considered Takeru a part of her family and she didn't want to jeopardize that by having to deal with his brother. Hopefully, now that he had been contacted he wouldn't try to hunt his brother down.

Hopefully.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Please read and review. Constructive critcism is accepted.


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: **This chapter is a little shorter than the last one; it's mostly building up to the action in the next chapter, namely Mimi and Yamato's first meeting. Thanks to my beta reader MimixIshidax

* * *

_Chapter 1:_

Matt stared at the computer screen in guilt and hoped that what he was about to do was something a concerned brother would do and not a complete invasion of privacy.

He went to type but paused once again; he could feel the guilt eating away at his stomach already and he wasn't sure if he entirely wanted to do this to Takeru. He wasn't a little boy anymore, and this was probably a gross overstep of his boundaries. But his little brother was missing and Yamato figured that once he found Takeru, it would not matter so much how he did it. So his little brother would never have to find out.

Besides, the only other option he could think of was going to a private detective and that was a little too melodramatic.

So steeling himself, he typed Takeru's username and password into the bank's website. Yamato had gotten all of Takeru private information from a box he had left with him, after the closet in his apartment had leaked. He looked up recent withdrawals and saw the name of a store as well as its location. He recognized the address as a town that was within a few hours driving distance from his current home.

He wrote down the address and went to pack a suitcase for a trip. He had already called in some overused vacation time at the restaurant, since he never took time off so he had about a month of vacation time saved up. His boss hadn't been happy at all but since he was one of the best chefs in the place, despite his reputation for eccentricity, the man had grudgingly let him off work.

He smiled grimly in the low lights of his apartment.

Matt was going to track his brother down whether Takeru wanted him to or not.

Then he would have to kick his little brother's ass for making him worry so much about something that didn't involve ghosts. 

* * *

For the second time in two days, Mimi wanted to tear handfuls of her hair out of her head.

Instead she settled for gritting her teeth in annoyance as she sat and listened to her fellow clan leaders discussing the amount of vampire deaths. The first one had come to their attention just about a month ago and the count was already up to five. She didn't like that number one bit; her kind were hard to kill, something she had learned firsthand a very long time ago, thus it didn't exactly sit well with her that someone was going around and killing her fellows with such ease.

However, she also felt profoundly unsettled being in the same room with three other Head Vampires. Two of the three (a man and a woman) she knew, but the one who had called the meeting in his home, she hadn't recognized and supposed he was new. He was a slender male, with blue black hair and piercing eyes. The three had greeted her with varying degrees of warmth, the woman had been the least welcoming, before taking a seat across from the blond Russian head vampire.

The blue black haired vampire, whose name she remembered was Ken, had launched into a speech about cooperation and unity to find the perpetrator(s) and blah blah blah blah. Mentally, Mimi had tuned him out before he could start waxing poetic about justice.

She had zoned out for a few moments, worrying about how Takeru was doing back at home and whether Sora was back yet or not, until something thumped down on the table. She peered at the object, a manila folder, before taking it in her hands and opening it. Inside were photographs of a dead male vampire; he had been handsome with bright red hair and black eyes but Mimi's attention was taken away from his good looks due to the man's chest having been completely ravaged.

Involuntarily, she dropped the folder back onto the table, scattering the pictures.

_Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast._

Across the table from her, a Head Vampire, Yuri, scowled down at the photo and slowly raised one hand straight up in the air before moving it left to right . It was a gesture both solemn and appropriate. So, of course he had to ruin the moment by subsequently raking a hand through his thick blond hair and muttering a long string of what were probably curse words in Russian. Next to him a beautiful dark haired female vampire, whose name was Miyako fiddled with the glasses she insisted on wearing (for some reason) absentmindedly.

"He was one of mine," she whispered almost brokenly.

Mimi was suddenly afraid that her fellow Head Vampiress would cry.

She needn't have worried. As she watched, Miyako's expression shifted from sorrow to fury and she banged her fist on the table. Yuri jumped in his chair, startled, and Ken gazed at her wearily.

"What exactly are we going to do about this, "the woman snarled. "One of my vampires was just killed! I demand retribution!"

Ken sighed. "Miyako, we all know how you feel. However, we can't rush into this blindly. We have no idea how the victims were murdered, for one, nor do we have any possible suspects."

Mimi feared that her colleague wouldn't listen to reason; she had known Miyako for nearly fifty years now and the other woman had one hell of a temper.

Miyako didn't disappoint her.

She glared at him, glasses glinting dangerously. "And what do you suggest we do Ken? Sit around and wait until more of us are killed! I say we end this now by hunting those animals down like the dogs they are."

Ken looked like he was about to reply but the combination of an even harsher glare from Miyako and some frantic hand "back off" hand gesturing from Yuri silenced him. Mimi wondered if she should say something but reconsidered as she studied her three companions; Ken appeared out of his depth, Yuri was silent and unfathomable (except for his blatant apprehension of the woman sitting next to him), and Miyako was filled with righteous fury. She sighed and kept her thoughts to herself.

The urge to tear her hair out by the handfuls resurfaced for a third time.

This was going to be a very long night

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Please read and review.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes: **Both Sora and Taichi are in this chapter. There will be Mimi/Taichi friendship and hints at Taichi/Sora. Thank you to my beta reader MimixIshidax.

* * *

He really wished that ghost would stop staring at him; it was really putting him on edge.

The ghost had been staring at him since he parked his car in town; he was a man, somewhat short, with neat red hair, black eyes, and pale skin. He didn't know what it was, but this one bothered him more than most. For some strange reason, the ghost didn't feel as if it had been human once.

But that was impossible. All ghosts were human at one time or another.

He suppressed the urge to shiver and spotted a restaurant; it was small, cozy looking and it would get him away from the extra-creepy ghost, so he decided it was a good a place as any to eat before he continued the search for his brother. Adjusting the strap of his black backpack, he quietly walked up the street and into the restaurant.

The ghost remained where it was, staring after Matt.

A little over an hour later, he was sitting at a booth in the crowded restaurant, with a hamburger and a side-order of fries in front of him. He ate slowly, savoring the meal as he thought over his plan of looking for Takeru.

It had seemed so simple when he had been packing his bags. He would just drive to the town, check into a hotel, and go looking for his little brother. The town in question wasn't that big so he figured he'd run into his brother just by walking around.

However, things didn't exactly go that way.

Mostly because he overlooked a simple consideration: Takeru didn't actually live in this town.

He spent a good portion of the early morning walking through the town, going into stores, and ignoring that damn ghost (the one he didn't want to consider hadn't once been human). When he went into a bookstore (a place he knew Takeru would have visited more than once) and asked if the clerk had seen a younger man who resembled him, the pretty brunette behind the counter informed him that Takeru often drove into town to go to the bookstore.

He had cursed mentally.

He should have considered the possibility that Takeru only visited the town. His brother could be living just outside the outskirts of the town, or another town entirely.

His oversight left him feeling stupid and frustrated; neither of which were things he liked feeling, and that damn ghost that wouldn't go away didn't exactly make things better either. He was just glad that most new ghosts (the red-haired man hadn't been dead long, he could feel that) didn't have freedom of mobility; they couldn't move very far from the area in which they had spent their last living moments. It was the older ghosts that he had to watch out for; if they realized that he could see them, they could follow him wherever he went, never giving him a moment's peace.

If only he could figure out why that ghost felt so different to him…

Before he could really pursue this line of thought, a bright feminine voice asked, "May I sit here?"

He glanced up to see a tall woman with a cup of coffee and a powdered jelly donut in hand, standing next to his booth. She had short, vibrant red hair, warm brown eyes, and a pale oval face; she had an athletic build and wore black sneakers, worn in blue jeans with a whole in the left knee, a black Sex Pistols tee-shirt, and a leather jacket. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties.

He raised an eyebrow in question.

She shrugged. "All the other tables are taken and I don't feel like eating in my car. So can I sit here?" She asked again.

He hesitated. "I don't bite, I promise." She winked.

He gave in; anyway, it might be nice to have some company. "I'm Matt." He introduced.

She slid into the seat across from him and introduced herself, "Sora Takenouchi." She smiled.

That name seems really familiar. Where had he heard that name before? He thought hard, trying to pinpoint that name, as his companion took a bite out of her donut. It took him a few moments but it finally clicked in his mind and he asked, "Like the pirate?"

"Excuse me?" She frowned.

He shrugged. "Sora Takenouchi was a famous pirate; I remember learning about her in school. Are you a descendent or something?" He wondered.

She quickly shook her head, maybe just a little too quickly he thought.

"Nah, my parents just thought it sounded like a cool name."

She's lying. That thought came to him suddenly and he mentally shook it off; it was absurd for him to be thinking that way, this woman had no reason to lie about something as simple as a name. Besides, what would she get out of lying to a complete stranger anyway? He was being as paranoid as people accused him of being.

After that exchange, they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Sora had nearly finished her donut when she asked, "So what brings you here? This is such a small out-in –the-middle-of-nowhere place; I didn't think a lot of people know this place exists."

Matt paused for a minute thinking; should he tell her about his brother? There was a possibility she knew Takeru and could tell him where his brother was. Why not?

"I came to visit my brother, but I lost his address." The lie came easily; he didn't want people to think he was too much of an over-protective big brother. "He hasn't been here long, so maybe you know him. His name is Takeru Takashi." He told her quietly.

She had taken a sip from her coffee as he was speaking, and when he had gotten to his brother's name, she started choking. Alarmed, he pushed a glass of water left on the table by the waitress towards her; she shook her head at the water and after a few minutes her coughing subsided.

He waited for her answer.

She focused on the table and replied, "No, I haven't heard of him." She mumbled.

This time he didn't dismiss the voice in the back of his head that told him this woman was lying. He pressed her, "Are you sure?"

"_Yes_ " she answered curtly this time. "I have to go now. Good luck finding your brother."

He couldn't let her go like this; she was the closest lead he currently had to Takeru's whereabouts. As she rose to leave, he quickly leaned forward and grabbed her by the hand; the word "please" was half-way to his lips when he suddenly cut himself off as a strange feeling washed over him.

This woman didn't feel human.

He couldn't quite articulate why exactly she felt different from most people, and the vibe he got off her was similar to a ghost but he knew full well she wasn't one. He wouldn't have been able to grab onto her if she had been a ghost and ghosts couldn't speak either (they'd project memories or images directly into his mind in order to communicate with him). But she felt cold, almost like a corpse, and he felt a twinge of fear. If he had been capable of rational thought in that moment, he would have realized she felt similar to the strange ghost he had previously encountered.

She studied him, somewhat uneasily, and asked, "What _are_ you?"

He should have been the one asking that question but he kept silent.

The corners of her mouth formed a frown. "You feel different, a little more than human. I've felt something like you once before. But what exactly are you?" She asked, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

His feeling of apprehension grew.

He really regretted letting her sit with him.

Suddenly, her face lit up in recognition. "You're a _Necromancer_!" He had no idea what that word meant. "Mimi will be very pleased to meet one of you." She clapped her hands together.

Who the hell is Mimi? And why would she want to meet _him_?

She smiled but the expression didn't quite meet her eyes. "You know what, I think I do know a Takeru. He lives just outside town; I'll take you there." She decided.

"No, that's ok, I'll just-"

"I insist." He blinked; it must have been a trick of the light but her eyes seemed to be gold now. "We'll take my car; yours will be fine here in town." Sora nodded.

"I don't," he trailed off mid-sentence. Her eyes were so gold and captivating...

She smiled wider, though it still didn't meet her eyes.

Her gold, gold eyes…

"Let's go."

Obediently, he followed her out of the restaurant and into the passenger seat of her car.

* * *

Mimi lay listless on the couch, trying her hardest to just relax and watch a movie. Her attempt at relaxation wasn't really working out that well considering her mind kept wandering back to the meeting; they had adjourned last night without coming up with a satisfactory plan of action. Miyako had been so angry over that fact that Mimi had feared she'd rip Ken's head off his shoulders, but that luckily hadn't happened.

The most they decided was that they would each try to solve this problem independently of each other and only call in the others if it was absolutely necessary. She was fine with that; the meeting had proven the dangers of having too many leaders.

She attempted once again to focus on the movie but it was no use. She shut the TV off and tried to come up with some way to distract herself from the murders. Thankfully, Taichi, Hikari's brother, had chosen just that moment to come down the stairs.

"Don't you look frustrated?"

She turned to look at him; he may have been related to Hikari but the two siblings were like night and day. Taichi was impulsive, loud and had a quick temper, whereas Hikari was cautious, quiet, and calm. If she hadn't turned the Yagami siblings herself, Mimi would have doubted how closely related the two were.

"That obvious, huh?"

"Just a little." He lifted a shoulder.

Mimi smiled briefly before sighing. "Everything's happening at once. Takeru, the murders, making sure Michael stays away…it keeps adding up." She rubbed her temples.

He grinned at her but she could see some concern in his expression. "No one said being leader would be easy." He held his arms out, "Come here." She accepted the hug gratefully. "When all of this is over, we'll do something fun(italicize). You, me, Hikari, That Idiot She Decided To Turn, and Sora…if we can get her to stay in one place for longer than five minutes." He promised.

Mimi frowned; Sora had been her best friend for centuries now, she wouldn't let Taichi bad mouth her.

"You know its part of Sora's job to travel; she is a _Hunter_ after all."

Taichi grunted. "I know. But she doesn't have to take every case _The Authority _hands her." He grumbled.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Taichi. Your girlfriend should be back by tomorrow." She patted his shoulder.

"She is not my girlfriend!"

"And whose fault is that?" He glared at her, but the expression held no real malice. "She's not a mind reader, Taichi. She doesn't know how you feel about her." Mimi continued.

He pulled away from their friendly embrace to stare at her. "I don't have any feelings for her!" She raised an eyebrow. "Ok, maybe I have platonic feelings but no more than that." Her eyebrow rose higher. "Fine! I may have some non-platonic feelings for her but that's it! It's not like I'm in love with her or anything." He defended.

"No one said you were."

He groaned and was about to retort when the sound of a key turning in a lock startled them. They shared a confused look before exiting the living room and walking towards the front door. They hadn't gotten very far before the sight of a sheepish looking Sora greeted him.

But she wasn't alone.

A heavily glamoured blond man stood next to her, staring sleepily at his surroundings.

"I got back early," Sora said weakly. "Surprise."

Mimi groaned.

The urge to tear her hair out had once again resurfaced.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Please read and review.


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